Kaalakaandi

plot

Raking up the spicy, quirky Delhi Belly like flavor, Kaalakandi is a comedy with black humor. Starring the likes of Saif Ali Khan, Deepak Dobriyal, Vijay Raaz and a bunch of young actors, the film is directed by Akshat Verma who is credited to have written movies like Delhi Belly.

Raking up the spicy, quirky Delhi Belly like flavor, Kaalakandi is a comedy with black humor. Starring the likes of Saif Ali Khan, Deepak Dobriyal, Vijay Raaz and a bunch of young actors, the film is directed by Akshat Verma who is credited to have written movies like Delhi Belly. less

Verdict

“The high it wants to make you experience is not high at all, it’s a downer!”

Kaalakaandi Audience Review

Kaalakaandi Review: A mixed bag

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Kaalakandi is Marathi slang for when things go disastrously wrong. And plenty goes wrong in this movie though plenty goes right also.

The movie is made of four stories that run in parallel and connect at different points in time, sometimes in the most bizarre ways that catch you by surprise. There is the story of Saif's character who is diagnosed with end stage cancer and given 3 months to live, his brother who is getting married but is open for a fling with an ex, two small time crooks who want to make quick money and a girl who gets caught in an accident on the day she is going off to the US to study. All these characters hit crazy situations and moral as well as ethical dilemmas that they must resolve or that get resolved by some acts of nature.

There are certain situations and interactions that stand out in the movie and which make small but clever comments on the attitudes we carry about different things. Shernaz Treasurywala does an outstanding job as a rich spoilt kid who sees nothing wrong in doing drugs and running away from the scene of a hit and run. Saif's interaction with a transvestite prostitute is outstanding. There is dignity and respect in that short relationship which makes you feel really good about it. The two small time crooks are played by two actors I love- Deepak Dobriyal and Vijay Raaz and the way that story goes is a total knock out.

As I write I can see that I have actually enjoyed large parts of the movie yet there is a feeling of disappointment. Each individual story has these small intimate moments that work extremely well. They are funny or sad or just plain crazy and that is what keeps the movie going. However, the sum of the parts doesn't add up to more than the whole which is what should have happened to give us that A-ha kind of moment. I should have felt the kind of exhilaration that Saif feels when the drug he pops finally hits him and he starts seeing dolphins on the road. That sense of craziness is missing as an overall tone of the movie.

The movie takes time to build up and you hit the interval without much happening. The second half is faster paced and surprises you at many moments with its twists. The cast is good and Saif seems to enjoy himself as a man high on drugs. There are some moments that are far too clever and the dialogues sometimes sound like a posh cocktail party. The romantic interlude between Saif and the photographer falls flat and seems contrived. Maybe these things take away from the sincerity that the other parts of the story have.

I guess you can watch this movie for the micro stories and their subtle moments that I enjoyed. But don't expect to come out feeling like you were on an acid trip. It is less overwhelming than that and not as much fun as Saif has with his drug trip. But its short and evenly paced out and can give you a few roller coaster moments. Can't take kids.